Save Article

Greatness Is a Hard Thing to Predict

January 12, 2012

Like most Americans, Kimberley Strassel ("Mr. Good Enough," op-ed, Jan. 3) seems to be searching for a giant for our times and finds no one who measures up. But she and we ignore a basic fact of life: A national leader cannot be a giant until after the fact—when he has proved himself equal to the times. We need look no further than that conservative icon Ronald Reagan, who was in about the same position in 1980 that Mitt Romney finds himself today. Reagan had lost a previous bid for the GOP nomination and was lampooned for his acting career, especially opposite a chimp named Bonzo, and his general lack of...